Hina's Life
by HieiYYH
Summary: Living in the ice world is too desolate and cold, one fateful day Hina decided to change her fate and met a man. Once she gives birth to a son and the ice maidens leave him for dead, she realizes that she can't live like this anymore and has only one option for her life.
1. Strange Woman

It never really sat well with me that Hina killed herself before she ever got a chance to meet her son, Hiei. I also always wondered what kind of man she met. Also in this story I believe both Hiei and Yukina are mixed fire and ice demons, I know not everyone believes that (it is kind of ambiguous in all versions of Yu Yu Hakusho; anime and manga, Japanese and English). It's a bit of a change here and there to the original story. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

They say hell is fire and brimstone, but they're wrong. I used to live in hell, at least, that's what it felt like to me. When I'd leave my house and walk down the streets, it would usually be filled with other women, but they all felt dead inside. There was something missing from all of our lives. I could feel it.

It was so cold. The constant snowfall would just swirl itself around me as it fell to the ground instead of sticking. It was as if even it had given up on living and was only falling because that had been what it was doing for centuries. Just like the ice maidens. We had lived on the floating glacier for centuries, far away from the touches of man.

As I walked down the street I remembered all that I had been told over the years. Men were the source of all evil. They would make wars for no reason. They'd rape, beat, and force women into horrible body modifications to look more beautiful in their eyes. I had been told these things for years. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't shake my curiosity. It had been centuries since any ice maiden even met a man. What if they had changed?

I knocked on Rui's front door. She opened it and asked, "Hina?"

"What do you think men are like?" I asked bluntly. She pulled me inside and shut the door quickly.

"Evil," she answered, "and you know we don't talk about such horrible things in the open."

"How do you know men are evil?" I asked.

She said, "Stories, Hina. What we've been told for decades."

"What if they're wrong?" I asked her, "Or what if they're dated? What if men aren't like that anymore? I have to meet one, to see for myself what they're really like. You don't feel that Rui?"

She shook her head nervously. "What's wrong with you?" she asked.

I asked, "You don't feel like there's something missing from your life? Nothing at all?"

"No," she answered, "What are you getting at?"

I confessed, "I'm leaving, and I'm only telling you Rui because I believe you'll be the only one who will notice that I'm gone."

Rui asked, "You're going to try and meet a man?"

"Yes," I explained, "I'm leaving tonight when the island will make a bridge to land. I know I won't be able to return for 3 months. I trust you'll be fine here."

"What are you saying?" she demanded, "You'll get yourself killed, or raped! You can't leave! You know it's forbidden. Not only that, but you're reaching your 100th year."

"I'll be back before I bare my daughter," I assured her, "I told you, 3 months time, Rui, I'll be back here. I promise."

* * *

Leaving that wretched place was easier than I expected. Once I was on solid ground I knew it would be 3 months until it would make contact with the survice demon world again. _Who will I find in such a short amout of time?_ I thought as I wandered toward a forest.

The ground and the sun were so overwhelming hot. Even in the shade of the trees, it felt like my skin could melt off of my bones. Once night fell I could see my breath. _This feels much better,_ I thought, and kept moving forward.

As I walked further into the night, I smelled smoke in the air. Someone was close by and they had a fire going. I made my way slowly through the underbrush of the forest toward the flames. _It's so warm,_ I thought, _I've never felt such a warm fire before._

A small clearing appeared in front of me. A man laid on his back, clearly in pain. He had black spikey hair in the shape of a fire that extended several inches into the air, somehow defying gravity. He had a white star shape in his hair and had large slanted eyes. He wore a deep red sleevless shirt and matching pants. His shoes were a red brown color. I looked down at his left ankle and saw that it was bleeding. He rithed in pain and sat up. He looked over at me and showed me his crimson red eyes. "Who are you?" he demanded, then grimmaced in pain.

"Let me help you!" I begged, walking over to him, "Your ankle, it's broken."

"I can see that," he replied snarkily, "don't touch me. Who are you?" His eyes tried to penitrate my soul.

I explained, "I have healing powers. Here." I touched his ankle and started to heal it immediately. His blood, muscels, tendons, and bones were all so warm and thick. I had never felt everything like it. Instead of blood pumping through his veins it was like fire did instead. It was filled with such intensity it felt like it was invigorating my spirit just by touching it. He felt so _alive_.

His ankle healed so fast. I had never seen anything like it. In the ice world that would have taken several minutes to heal. "Whatever you are," he said, "you sure are beautiful."

I replied, "My name is Hina. I'm an ice maiden from the ice world."

"No wonder you're so cold," he replied, "thank you, for healing me." He touched his now intact ankle.

"You're so warm," I said quietly, "it's like I'm thawing out just be being near you. I've never felt like this before. Who are you?" I leaned closer to him so I could feel his warmth better.

He looked at me and said, "My name is Kunsei (koon-say), I'm a fire demon, as you probably guessed."

"You're a man," I said examining him. His muscels practically ripped through his clothing. He didn't look anything like I'd imagine a man to look.

"Yes," he said awkwardly, "and you're a woman."

"I've never met a man before you," I explained, "ice maidens have isolated themselves in the ice world for centuries. This is the first time I've ever left. You're not going to rape me, are you?"

He stared at me in complete shock and said, "No. I've never raped a woman before and I never plan to start. So you're telling me there's a whole world out there with women who have never met men before?"

I nodded and said, "Yes."

"What do you know about men?" he asked, "Anything at all?"

"I've been told my whole life that they're inherinently evil," I replied, "they're the source of all problems and they enslave each other and rape women. They force women to do horrible things to themselves so they'll look more beautiful in men's eyes. That's all I've been told, but you haven't tried to rape me yet."

Kunsei stared at me like I was absolutly insane. He said, "Women can do all of those things too, they're not inheirently pure you know. Although, now that you mention it we do have three kings and they'll go to war with each other once one of them dies. What are you doing?"

I grabbed his left hand and felt how strong it was. "You're so warm," I whispered, "everything about you. You feel so _alive._ "

"You're a very strange woman," he said, "what was your name again?"

"Hina," I replied, "sorry, it's just that, everyone where I'm from-"

"They feel cold," he finished, "and dead inside. That's what you feel like. It's like you're a souless woman wandering for no reason. Like your life has no purpose. Everyone of those ice maidens in the ice world feels like you?" I nodded. "No wonder you left."

I looked away at the fire that was burning. It was bright orange, in the ice world whenever we lit a fire it was green and it wasn't nearly as warm and beautiful as this. I asked, "What did you do to the fire to make it so warm?" I crawled over to it and examined it.

Kunsei explained, "That's just what fire looks and feels like. Don't touch it!"

I touched a stick that was burning, then placed it back into the fire. My hand started to feel like it too was burning. I looked down at it, it was bright red and started to bubble. "Wow," I remarked, "that hurts worse than touching ice barehanded." I used my other hand to heal myself instantly.

"You just gave yourself a 2nd degree burn and that's all you have to say?" he asked, "That it hurts worse than frost bite?" He took my hand and saw that it was completely healed. "What? Where did the burn go?"

"I healed myself," I replied as I showed him my uninjured hand. He looked at me in shock and awe.


	2. Fire and Ice

_Must have been a dream,_ I thought to myself, _no way in hell is there a woman that weird that exists._ I opened my eyes and saw that she did exist. She had snuggled up against me in the middle of night without me realizing. _Glad I was wrong,_ I thought.

Hina opened her eyes and started moving. "You're awake," I said.

"Oh?" she looked up at me, "I didn't realize I got so close to you last night, Kunsei. You're just so warm."

 _She can't seem to get over that fact,_ I thought. Personally, I didn't feel any warmer than I usually did but she _insisted_ I was warm. I sat up slowly and asked, "So, I have to ask, how do the ice maidens exist if there are no men around to reproduce with?"

Hina sat beside me and said, "We reproduce asexually once every 100 years and always give birth to a daughter."

 _That's why she's never met a man before,_ I thought to myself. "So you've never heard of reproduction in the traditional sense?" I asked.

"Of course," she replied, "but that's strickly forbidden. We could have a son if that happens and it's said that all men are evil and he would kill us all. I'm starting to think that's wrong. I wonder what would happen if someone had a boy instead of a girl."

 _Thank Koenma this woman ran into me,_ I thought, _bandits run through these woods and if she ran into them I'm sure they would have done something horrible and she'd think all men are evil. I bet I could change her mind._ I stood up and she followed me, "Mind if I join you? I don't really have anywhere else to go for 3 months."

I replied, "I was hoping you'd say something like that. Come on, I have to show you around demon world." I stood up and helped her up. We were exactly the same hieght.

* * *

"Well hello beautiful," Janji said, "Kunsei, where did you find this broad? Wow she's fridged." He hugged himself as her ice swept across him. The bar we walked into was almost completely empty, being mid-day and all.

"Janji this is Hina," I replied.

She said, "I came from the ice world and met Kunsei. What kind of demon are you?"

"A bat demon," he replied, "can't you tell?" He looked at her in confusion.

She touched his bat wings folded behind him like a cape and said, "So you are. Interesting. To be honest, I've never met anyone besides ice maidens before yesterday." She smiled at me.

Janji said, "Hina you're so cold. It doesn't even feel like you're alive. Are all ice maidens like you?"

"Afraid so," she replied and went to to explain what she had been telling me about the ice maidens that live in the ice world. He had the same look on his face after she had finished telling him everything, even the whole asexual reproduction thing.

Once she left to excuse herself for a moment Janji said, "Kunsei, it's a good thing she met you out there in Gandara, that forest you were in is covered in bandits! If she met one of them she'd be done for."

"I already figured that out," I replied, "she's convinced all men are evil and I have to show her we're not."

"Good luck with that!" he replied sarcastically. I had my work cut out for me.

* * *

She said she had three months until she insisted on returning to the ice world. As I spent more time with her, I realized she was becoming less and less cold on the inside. I couldn't tell if she noticed this or not. I took her to meet everyone I knew, men and women alike.

"Do you make friends with everyone you meet?" she asked one day as we laid by a fire. The sun was low in the sky, ready to set within an hour.

"I try," I replied, "it doesn't always happen."

"Are most men like you?" she asked as she moved closer to me, "Kind and sweet, I mean."

"I don't know," I confessed, "I haven't met most men."

She moved her torso upward and leaned on her arm as she asked, "What are you talking about? We must have been over 100 different men for the past month."

"There are millions of demons," I replied, "maybe even billions of them. I don't know. There are evil men out there too, Hina. I try not to associate with them."

She moved in closer to cuddle and said, "None of the demons we've met are as warm as you, Kunsei."

I wrapped my arm around her and replied, "I am a fire demon, fire and warmth go together. Watch this." I held out my hand and a blue bird landed on it. It started tweeting and other birds began to follow until four of them were sitting on my arm. One of them flew into my hair.

Hina and I sat up. "Amazing!" she said happily. She tried to extend her hand but they all flew away inside.

"I think you're still too cold," I said to her.

* * *

Everyone was always intrigued by Hina no matter where we went. As her coldness faded her curiousity for demon world grew. I tried to avoid the negative topics, like how the three kings would mostly like go to war soon as Raizen died or that bandits plagued everywhere outside of populated areas. As the days turned to weeks, and the weeks into months her time was coming to an end.

"It's right above us," she said, looking up into the clouds, "I can feel it." We laid in a meadow and watched the clouds pass by.

I looked up and saw a giant floating island that was hidden among the clouds. I could feel it's bitter cold trying to rain down on us. "They say hell is fire and brimstone," I said, "but I have a feeling it's frozen over and it's always cold. That up there, is the real hell. Do you really have to go back?"

"I always planned on it," Hina replied, "besides, I'm sure Rui is worried about me."

"Who's Rui?" I asked.

She explained, "My best friend. When I told her I was leaving she was worried and wondered what would happen if I was raped or beaten by a man. I have to return and tell her how wonderful you are and how kind men can be."

They way that she looked at me, and how she spoke of me. She was so beautiful in that moment. I pulled her closer to me as the sun began to fully set. "You're not as cold as you used to be, Hina," I whispered.

"You're still so warm," she replied as she hugged me.

I moved my hand down her body before I whispered, "There's something else I can show you if you want." She smiled up at me.

* * *

The morning after we made love she asked, "How could my race get rid of something so wonderful?" She looked at me with her beautiful green eyes.

"You'd have to ask them that," I replied, "I don't have the answers to everything, you know."

Hina looked over at the floating island. It had moved closer to the mountains she said would take her home soon. "I better get going if I want to get back home," she said.

"Do you really have to go?" I asked, "Will I ever see you again?"

She stopped and stared at me as she sat and turned to face me. "I'd love to see you again," she confessed, "I'll be expecting a daughter soon so I'll be out of it for a while. Then I'll have to raise her, it could be years before I get a chance to leave the ice world again. Can you wait that long?" Her eyes sparkled as she asked that.

"Yes," I replied. I had never met a woman so excited to meet people and see the world as her and there was no way I'd find another. Hina was clearly the one.

I walked her up the mountains to where the floating island made contact with land. As she faced the path up the island I held her hand. Before she let go we kissed. A tear fell from her eye and turned to stone before hitting the ground. "I'll miss you, Kunsei," she whispered.

"I'll miss you too," I whispered back as she turned around and let go of my hand.


	3. A Boy and A Girl

Returning back to the ice world was the hardest thing I had ever done. Kunsei's energy was so warm and felt so amazing whenever I was around him. As I walked back to the village and through the ice world I felt myself almost freezing back over in the winds and snowfall. The ground, the trees, the wind, it all felt like it was dead. There was no one alive there. _Perhaps I shouldn't raise my daughter here after all,_ I thought to myself as the village came into view.

Just as before, no, far worse than before, I walked through the village and everyone was so cold. I almost shivered. "Hina!" a familar voice called.

"Rui," I said as I turned around. Never before did she look so pale and pathetic. Compared to other demons in the survice world she was a mess. Compared to the other women here, she fit right in.

She dragged me to her house and after she shut the door behind herself she said, "You're okay! I was beginning to worry you'd never return."

"Rui," I said, "everything we've learned about men is a lie! They can be so kind and so _warm_."

"Warm?" she asked.

"You wouldn't understand," I replied, "none of the women here would understand. They're so friendly down there. They can be kind, not just war torn. Not once did a man rape me."

Rui said, "Well, good for you. You're 100 now, which means you'll give birth soon. If you were raped you could have a son and we all know what that means."

"Don't be rediculous," I replied, "a son is no more of a curse than a daughter is." I could tell by her expression that she was beginning to believe me. In truth, I had completely forgotten my birthday. I was now 100, and would soon expect a daughter.

* * *

I did become pregnant, as expected, only this felt much different than the other pregnancies in the village. I hadn't thought much about what Kunsei and I did that fateful night but as my child grew two things became apparent. There were twins, something almost unheard of among ice maidens. Many of the other women were insistant that I was just carrying large but I could feel the difference. The other thing was that these were obviously Kunsei's daughters. They were so warm. I could feel them warming and thawing me out from the inside.

When I did give birth, I could feel the heat descending from my body. As I looked down at the midwife she looked horrified. I heard no cries. _Oh no,_ I thought, _don't tell me a stillbirth._ "A boy," she said, "Hina, how could you?"

I took him into my arms. He had black and white hair in the shape of fire and his red eyes that were already open. Not only that, he was _on fire._ An intense orange flame surrounded him, but as I held him it didn't burn me. Then a gave birth again, twins, just as I suspected. I no longer felt warm, and gave birth to a girl who looked just like me. She cried as I held her and a two tears fell from my eye.

The midwife ran out of my house, horrified, once I was done giving birth. I cleaned them both myself. I wrapped my daughter up but she wouldn't stop crying no matter what. She was almost cold to the touch. Cold, and dead inside just like all of these dreadful women.

I tried to wrap a blanket around my son but his energy set it on fire immediately. "Okay then," I said, throwing it off to the side so it wouldn't burn me, "forget the blanket, you need a name." I remembered a conversation I had with Kunsei months before...

* * *

 **Flashback**

"So you're going to expect a daughter soon," he said, "thought of any good names yet?"

"No," I confessed, "I'll just let one come to me after I give birth to her. What about you? Have you ever thought of names for any possible future children?"

He replied, "For a boy, I always liked the name Hiei."

"Hiei," I said, "I like it. Too bad I'll only ever have daughters."

 **End Flashback**

* * *

"Hiei," I said to him, "that's your name, my son." He gave me a little smile. _Guess he likes it too,_ I thought, _strange, it's almost like he can understand what I'm saying._ I picked up my tears and put them on a necklace, as was tradition in our society. I finished one and gave it to my daughter.

"Hina!" someone said in my doorway, "You have broken our most important rule." It was the elder. She held a sacred cloth in one hand and talasman cards in another.

"What are you doing?" I demanded, "Stay away from my baby." I picked him up and held him.

"Rui," the elder said, "take that cursed child away from her." Rui stepped in the doorway, completely heartbroken.

I said, "Don't call him that, his name is Hiei."

Other ice maidens came in and held me down as the elder wrapped him in the scared cloth, only revealing his eyes. It was obvious they couldn't hold him with his intense flame. I was too weak to fight back. The elder gave Hiei to Rui, and ordered her to follow her.

"No!" I shouted and ran after her.

Outside I fell to the ground and said, "Please, give my baby back to me."

"No," she replied coldly, "the girl is yours to keep. But this boy of fire, this cursed child, he'll slaughter us all."

"This is my sin," I confessed, thinking of that night in the beautiful meadow at sunset with Kunsei, "please don't punish my son for it." Tears were starting to well up at the survice of my eyes.

She said, "Hina, you're too young to understand the hardships men have caused us in the past. If we don't kill him now he'll kill us all."

"No," I pleaded as I cried. They were wrong. Kunsei was so kind. He said there were evil men out there but it wasn't inherated. It wasn't bred into them. If Hiei was raised with love, the love Kunsei produced with me, he'd be fine! The elder left me there to cry.

I ran back into my house and grabbed the tear I shed for Hiei. I quickly made it into a necklace and worked my way to Rui's house. I burst through the back door to see her with my son alone.

"Hina this is bad," she said, "they want me to throw him off the cliffs."

"No, Rui," I begged, "don't you dare. Don't do it!" I took out the necklace and placed it next to my son, then picked him up to hold him against me. The sacred cloth didn't feel right, his fire didn't hurt me. He didn't need it.

There was banging on the front door. "Rui! We can't find Hina," the elder said from the otherside.

Rui took Hiei and pushed me into one of her closests. As I closed the door I saw her grab my tear and stuff it into her kimono before opening the door. "She's not here," she lied, "perhaps she's at home."

"She isn't," the elder said, "we don't have time to waste. Bring the cursed child Hiei and come with me at once."

"Yes elder," she said sadly. I heard her walk back out the front door.

I chased them down as fast as I could. I had lost a lot of blood while giving birth and was still weak. I managed to find them at the edge of the cliffs. Rui was at the very end, holding my son tight in her arms. "Don't do it Rui!" I shouted as I ran after them.

When I got closer other maidens held me back. I couldn't break free from them. "Rui," the elder said, "I know you and Hina are best friends. You'll do this for her and our own good. This cursed child, he'll slaughter us all."

"I'm sorry," Rui whispered.

"Do not pity the beast," the elder said coldly.

"I beg of you, Rui, don't do it!" I shouted. I still couldn't break free from them.

I saw her take my tear out of her kimono and stuff it into his sacred cloth. Then she held out her arms, "My baby!" I pleaded. He fell past the cliff, "No!" I cried. He was gone. His warmth, that smile, my son was gone forever.


	4. Rondevous

I cried as I walked back to my house in vain. Nothing could help me now. I returned to find my daughter still crying. I held her as tight as I could but nothing helped. "Right," I whispered, "you still need a name. Yukina. That's your name." She didn't stop.

"Hina," I heard from the otherside of the door.

"Let yourself in," I said. I knew it was Rui before she even opened the door.

She said, "I'm sorry, Hina." She sat down beside me. "That boy, he understood everything we said about him, I'm sure of it."

"That doesn't matter now," I replied sadly, "you killed him."

"I think he survived the fall, Hina," she said, "I told him to. I told him to survive and and to kill me first when he does come back in atonement for what I did to him. I'm sure he understood."

I looked at her and asked, "Are you out of your mind? He was a _baby_ , Rui!" Even I thought he might be able to understand us, but none of that mattered now. He was gone.

"Is that your daughter?" she asked, "She's beautiful."

"Thank you," I said without emoition, "her name is Yukina. Get out of my house, Rui. I don't ever want to see your face again." I stared at her. She looked terrified but understood and left me alone.

* * *

The weeks and months all started to blend together. I remembered with every ounce of my power to remember holding my son and how warm he was. Even though he was on fire when he was born he didn't burn me. Was that on purpose? Perhaps it was just the nature of his power.

Everyone took notice of me after that. I was a horrible sinner that nearly cursed all of them, according to them anyway. They spoke horribly of me and Yukina. The worst part was, Rui kept trying to talk to me and assure me that he lived. No one could survive a fall like that. I let her keep her deliusions since it seemed to comfort her about the horrible thing she had done.

As the years passed on, Yukina didn't get any warmer. She felt just as cold and dead inside as everyone else. _Maybe if she had a big brother to warm her up she wouldn't feel so pathetic,_ I thought coldly.

I couldn't take living there anymore. Each day I told myself that. _I can't keep living like this,_ I thought. No sun. No cloud shapes. No sunsets. No orange fires that warmed up my soul. No cuddling. There was nothing keeping me there. It had been 3 years since Rui threw Hiei off of the cliff and I remembered what I told Kunsei.

I remembered back when I was young, just a few years old. One of the other ice maidens had killed herself. She even set up her own grave and covered her body before she did the deed. The only reason we knew she was gone was because she left a note on her door. No one checked the casket before they covered the hole in, it would have been seen as too disrepectful.

I dug my grave in front of a rotten tree and put a closed casket in there in the middle of the night. I wrote a note and stuck it on my front door. It said that I had killed myself out of grief for my son and to take care of my daughter. She was so fridged cold on the inside, and she wouldn't remember me anyway. There was no way she remembered her dead brother.

* * *

There wasn't an exact bridge like before, but more of a 50 foot gap with the plateau that the island was ever so slowly passing. I took the leap and made it without any injuries. Now how was I going to find my beloved Kunsei?

After searching through different lands for over a year, I finally found him. He was walking through a village when the crowd dispersed he was there, decked out in the deep burgundy red that matched his eyes that he always wore. "Hina?" he asked, "Is that you?"

"Kunsei!" I shouted, and ran into his arms. I tried to stop myself from crying so no one would try to steal my tears.

"Let's find someplace alone, alright?" he asked.

Once we found a campsite alone I went into hysterics and just started bawling. "It was so horrible," I cried, "I don't even know if I can say it."

"Take a few deep breaths," he said calmly, "what happened?"

"Twins," I explained, "one boy and one girl. They didn't even know that was possible. I had never heard of such a thing happening in our society."

He looked at me, confused and asked, "Well where are they? You're all alone, right?"

"They killed him, Kunsei," I cried, "they killed our son. The elder told Rui to throw him off of a cliff and she _did it_." He looked at me in horror. "He was so warm when he was born, he had the same fire energy that you do."

He said, "Well you said twins. What about the girl? Where is she?"

"She was cold," I explained, "and dead inside just like every other woman in that village."

"So you _abandoned_ her?" he asked in shock.

When he said it like that, I didn't realize that's exactly what I had done. I had left behind the ice maidens, and pretended to die so no one would go after me. Yukina would grow up thinking I killed myself and left her behind. That's exactly what I did. What have I done?! I cried into Kunsei's shoulder for over an hour.

By the time I was done, the ground was covered in jewels. "I'm sorry," I whispered to him.

"For crying?" he asked, "Don't be, these stones are beautiful."

"No," I said, "for abandoning our daughter. She has your eyes, I know I didn't concieve her asexually like I was supposed to."

He wiped my face from my tears and said, "I think I get it. You were so emotionally distraught you weren't thinking clearly. Strong emotions can do that to someone, especially after you lose someone you love. Now, how high was this cliff our son fell from?"

I pulled away from him and said, "Don't be rediculous, there's no way a baby could survive that fall."

"Fire demons are tough, Hina," he said as-matter-of-factly, "I've fallen from heights high in the sky and survived. Tell me more about him, did you name him?"

"Hiei," I replied, "he was born surrounded in orange fire. I held him just fine but none of the other ice maidens could so they wrapped him in a sacred cloth before he was dropped off the edge. That was about 4 years ago."

Kunsei said, "Hiei, you remembered that I liked that name."

"Of course," I said.

"Now," he replied, "he was wrapped in a sacred cloth and he was protected by his flame. Survival almost sounds easy at that point. Did you know us fire demons can see and hear before we're born?"

"What?" I asked. _So he did understand,_ I thought, _and Kunsei is insistant that he probably survived a fall from such a great height. Perhaps Rui wasn't so far off...no, Hina. He's definetly dead, don't fool yourself._

He nodded and continued, "He heard whatever anyone said about him. What's our daughter's name?"

"Yukina."

"We should save her from that hell-"

"Kunsei," I said, "you can't go there. They'd kill you on sight or something. I don't even know. None of those woman have even seen a man before, and then you go in there claiming to have a daughter with a dead woman? I faked my death so no one would ever try to find me."

He looked at me sadly and said, "We just have to leave her there?"

I nodded and said, "Yes. Dammit I should have taken her with me! I should have pretended to kill her and then myself so we wouldn't have to live in such misery." I started crying again. He pulled me closer and held me tight.

"This isn't over, you hear me," he said, "we'll find a way to find both of them, eventually, no matter how long it takes." I wanted to believe him, but I didn't think I could. By then, I had lost all hope. I was so sure Hiei was dead long since dead, and then I up and abandonded Yukina, my only daughter.


	5. Journey

The trail had long since gone cold. We traced back where the island had floated over the years, and I knew how long I had been pregnant, so we had some idea where Hiei could have fallen. There was a giant river flowing through a valley of forests in the area.

"He probably floated down river," Kunsei said, looking downstream.

"How can you be so sure?" I asked sadly. I looked up into the sky where he would have fallen all of those years ago.

He insisted, "Trust me on this, unless I get definitive proof he's dead I'm betting he's alive. Now stay close to me, this is bandit country."

"Bandits?" I asked.

"Remember all of those horrible thing you learned about men?" he asked, "That's the kind of stuff they do."

Not surprisingly, we didn't find anything for months. Kunsei was still filled with hope. I had no idea how he could be so uplifting. Yukina's birthday came and went. If Hiei was still alive he was 5-years-old now.

* * *

I decided to get a make-over. Walking around all the time in a kimono wasn't as easy as it looks. It was hardly practical. Instead I decided to wear all red, like Kunsei, only brighter. And I cut off most of my hair to just above my shoulders. No need to look like an ice maiden anymore, I was no longer one of them.

"What do you think?" I asked.

"You look great, as always," he replied.

Once we started walking out of town I saw some wanted posters. That's when I saw it. "Kunsei," I said, stopping in my tracks.

"What?" he asked, then stopped to look at the wanted poster, "No way."

A little boy, no older than 5, had a sword and was wearing all black. He was smiling at the camera and his sword was clearly swinging at whoever was taking the picture. He was a mini-Kunsei. Was it Hiei? Did he truly survive after all?

"Is it him?" I asked nervously, not wanting to believe it. I looked at his neck, the necklace. He was still wearing my necklace I saw Rui give him. He kept it. "It's Hiei," I said confidently, "he's still wearing my necklace."

"Do you two know that kid?" a large man asked. I almost jumped since he voice was so low.

"Uh," I said nervously.

Kunsei asked, "How long ago was he here?"

"Two weeks now," he said, "he stole that sword and then killed a dozen people before leaving. The brat had an expensive necklace on that he was flaunting. Once he killed the first several people this photographer took his picture for this wanted poster, the brat killed him too. Look at the smug bastard."

"Which way did he go?" Kunsei asked.

"Past that swamp ahead," the man answered, "after that we have no idea."

"We don't know him," Kunsei replied, "come on Hina." He started pulling me away.

Once we were out of sight of the village I asked, "Why did you say we didn't know him? I mean, we kind of don't but we do."

"They'd expect us to know where he is," he said, "and they'd also want an explanation on why he murdered everyone there and we don't have that. Trust me the situation was going south fast."

"It's really him," I said, "my baby's alive! I can't believe it!" I hugged him so tight.

He squeezed me back and said, "I told you he would make it. Now we just have to figure out where he is and why he's being so murderous." That was so much easier said than done.

* * *

Over the years Hiei became almost legendary for killing everyone in his path. We had no idea who he was living with. We both knew there was no way he was sustaining himself as a child alone.

What was made more nerve-wracking for me is that the ice maidens told me this would happen. They said whenever a male is born among them the mother meets a gruesom end and he becomes a violent and unruly child. I told this to Kunsei but he didn't think it was fate.

"I think he's being raised by violent people," he replied, "most likely bandits. It would explain why he keeps moving around so much."

After many years of not finding him again, we met someone else with information. "You look familiar," a young woman behind a jewelery counter said Kunsei, "have you been here before?"

"No," he said confidently.

"Now I remember!" she said, "A kid that looked just like you came through here not too long ago."

I asked, "What happened? Anything unusual?" _Please tell me he didn't kill anyone,_ I thought, _it was just a normal interaction, right? Right?_

"Well my brother fought him over the necklace he had around his neck," she explained sadly, "that little brat killed him but my brother cut his necklace off his neck before he died so I say they both lost."

"What?!" I said. He lost my necklace. For years stories we heard said he was almost flaunt and taunt others with it, enticing them to fight him for it. He'd always kill them in the end. This time someone actually took it away from him.

"Where did he lose it?" Kunsei asked.

"Just on the cliffs over there, why?" she asked, "You're never going to find it, it fell into a river hundreds of feet below and that was weeks ago. It's long gone by now."

Kunsei pulled me away and said, "Sorry for you loss. Thanks for the information."

I asked, "You don't really think we can find that, do you?"

"No," he replied, "and I have a feeling he hasn't been able to find it either. He's going to try to look for it. If you lost something important like that to you, what would you do?"

I thought for a moment and said, "I guess I'd try my hardest to look for it no matter what."

"Yes, but how?" He asked, "The jagan!"

"What are you talking about?" I asked. A third eye that enhances the spirit. I had never heard of it before this but Kunsei was certain that would make the most logical sense. It was incredible painful to go through and it would drain all of his demon energy down to when he was just a baby. "How can you be so sure he'd get this jagan eye," I asked, "It sounds far too risky."

"It's what I would do," he replied, "if I had any kind of pain tolerance whatsoever. I have a feeling he inherited yours."

I asked, "My pain tolerance?"

He explained, "Think of it this way, years ago when we first met I sliced my ankle wide open bad enough to break it and I could barely move. You on the other hand, you set your hand on fire and was totally fine with it."

"I see your point," I replied, "so where do we go to find someone that can give him a jagan eye?"

* * *

I don't know how long it took Hiei to find someone, but it took us years before we met Shigure. When we entered his room I was taken aback by how strange and creepy everything felt.

Kunsei asked, "Did a young man named Hiei come here?"

Shigure slowly turned around. "Yes," he replied, "he did. I'm going to go out on a limb and say you're related to him."

"Did he get the jagan eye?" he asked.

"That he did," Shigure answered, "about a few years ago now. When someone asks me to operate on them I decide to do so only if they've had an interesting life. He told me his life story, you must be Hina." He looked at me. _Kunsei was right,_ I thought, _he really does remember everything._

I asked, "What if I am?"

He explained, "He wanted the eye for two reasons. One was to find the ice world and kill all of the ice maidens and the other was to find your tear necklace. That's all I'm going to tell you without a trade." He turned back around and went back to polishing his insane looking sword.

"Thank you," Kunsei replied coldly.


	6. Adventure

"Do you really think he killed all of the ice maidens?" I asked him nervously as we left Shigure's hut.

"Well he's killed countless demons in the past, so why not?" he replied, "I'll go check it out. If they're all dead then I'll tell you. Who knows, he might have left some survivors. So where's the ice world now?"

"Actually," I replied, "it should be moving overheard within a week." I looked up to the sky and saw the strange cloud formation over the horizon. Perhaps a week was too long, 3-4 days at the most.

* * *

We walked toward some mountains that would create a good bridge. Along the way a group of thugs were camping out in the path. "Troublemakers," Kunsei whispered to me, "stay back here, okay? Don't walk right beside me."

"What do we have here?!" one of the thugs demanded we Kunsei tried to walk through.

He replied, "I'm just passing through."

"Hey princess," one of them said to me, "want to date?" I took a step back.

"No," I answered.

Another said, "Ditch this loser and get with us!" They started drawing weapons of all sorts of shapes and sizes.

As Kunsei walked through one of the thugs stopped in front of him. It almost looked funny as he glared at him since Kunsei and I were easily a whole foot taller than him. "I was trying to do this civilly," Kunsei complained, then his fire aura shot out from him and incinerated them all instantly.

I jumped back so I could avoid the flames. Once he was done there was nothing left of them. Not even their belongings or any of the vegitation survived. "Wow," I said, "I didn't know you could do that, do you think Hiei can?"

"With the jagan eye that drained all of his demon energy," he explained, "probably not. Maybe someday. Come on."

* * *

 **[Kunsei's POV]**

I left Hina at the mountain, just in case these women really were still alive. As I walked closer to the center of hell everything felt like it had no life. Never before had I felt such an environment where it was just an empty shell of a husk that used to be. As I walked I involuntarily melted all the snow and ice in my path. My internal heat energy was too intense for such a frozen hell to handle.

The village came into view, and was surprisingly intact. I even saw movement, but I could sense it from where I stood. They were all truly dead. As I walked closer they all ran in fear. _So much for trying to kill me,_ I thought, _we should have grabbed Yukina from this place years ago._

One woman stood at the edge of the village. Fear and horror filled her eyes. Her long green hair was tied in a high pony tail and she stood at the same hieght as me. She didn't move but her gaze never left mine. As I approached her she asked, "Who are you?" Her soul was desperately looking for something. It was unrested. She wanted to be loved, but had never felt such a feeling, so her soul remained broken.

"I'm looking for a woman I used to know named Hina," I lied. I knew if I told her how much I knew she'd freak out and I'd never learn anything.

As expected she took me to a grave. A rotten tree was carved with her name and some meaningless tokens of sadness. "Hina was my best friend," the woman continued, which I concluded meant she was Rui, "one day she left the ice world and met a man. Are you him?"

"Perhaps," I replied.

"Your heat," she said nervously, "it's melting everything around you. She said men could be _warm_ but I didn't understand." She reached out to touch me but was far too afraid to get close.

I asked, "What happened to her?"

Startled, she withdrew her hand and said, "Hina killed herself just a few short years after her children were born. She had one boy and one girl. The girl, Yukina, was the most beautiful little girl anyone had ever seen. She left several years ago, probably looking for her brother."

"What happened to him?" I asked. _Was he here?_ I thought.

"We-" she started, "I threw him off a cliff when he was born, but I could tell he understood everything we said to him. I'm sure it was him that came back a few years ago. Just like you, he asked to see Hina, then he left after I told him Yukina left. He looks just like you."

 _So he did come here,_ I thought, _and he saw how dead everyone was and left them to rot. Interesting._ I turned to leave. She started crying, but I left her there just like Hiei did. There was no helping her guilt.

* * *

I told Hina everything once I went back to her. "So they're still alive?" she asked nervously.

"'Alive' is not what I would call that," I replied, "but they were moving, and completely intact. This is an interesting predicament, Yukina's trying to find Hiei and Hiei's trying to find Yukina. They should find each other soon enough, especially with his jagan eye."

"How do _we_ find them?" she asked desperately, "I don't even know how Yukina's surviving or when and where she left and Hiei kills everyone he meets. He won't hurt her, will he?"

"That doesn't make any sense," I explained, "why would he kill his only sister? Besides, now he thinks she's his only family since he saw your grave." _This is going to get strange if we ever do catch up to him and explain she faked her suicide,_ I thought, _not to mention if we ever see Yukina again. What the hell will she think?_

* * *

Finding a young ice maiden was easy. Everyone we talked to always told us how beautiful and icy Yukina was. After several more months we found out she fell into a portal to the living world. I noticed we hadn't come across too many people who had seen Hiei, or knew someone who was killed by him, so I figured he went to human world to look for her.

When we set up camp for the night once the sun started to set, Hina said, "The human world, I've read about humans."

"Vile creatures," I warned, "most don't know about demons, not anymore anyway. The ones that do tend to enslave and imprison us for profit."

"There must be some nice ones," she said, "right?"

"Sure," I replied, "I just hope those are the kind of humans she finds and that Hiei doesn't cause too much trouble there."

"We should go there," she replied happily, "portals pop up all the time so getting there won't be hard."

I shook my head, "The kekai barrier is in the way. I can't get to human world even if I wanted to. I don't know about you on the other hand, you might be able to make it there." I froze. Something about the atmosphere was changing. "Did you feel that?" I asked.

She nodded, "What is that?"

"A portal," I replied, and looked in the direction I felt it. Across the plains of demon world was a breech between worlds, and it wasn't a natural one. Someone was carving there way here from human world.


	7. Almost

"Whoever is digging this tunnel," I said to Hina, "sure as hell wants something large to fit through there." I stay crouched in my positon behind some rocks in the mountains. Low class garbage were lining up just to get a taste of human blood. _They_ could all fit through that barrier easily enough.

She asked, "Who is creating this tunnel, and why?"

"Don't know," I replied, then I felt it. Powerful beings were coming this way from human world. "What the hell?" I asked, looking through the hole.

"What is that?" she asked, "I can feel it. Who are they?"

"4," I said, "that can't be. There aren't any demons strong enough for produce that much power in the living world. How did that happen?" I stared at the tunnel and saw a human come out of it, then 3 others were behind him, all males.

"Kunsei!" Hina said, "It's Hiei!"

"Yoko Kurama?" I asked, "I thought that fox died years ago. They're with humans too. Is that sacred energy?" I watched the first human use his energy to lift himself off of the ground. That itself wasn't _that_ impressive, even I could do it with enough fire power, but his was golden.

Hina asked, "What's sacred energy?"

"It's a level of power that takes decades to perfect," I explained, "I've thought of it at one time but there are downsides. It's only at one level, demon energy and I suppose spirit energy as well, can surpass it with enough training, but it would take centuries. I don't think most humans live long enough to ever get to that level even if they can control spirit energy. Also, sacred energy weakens a certain part of you, especially if a human uses it. If I lit an electrical fire under his ass he'd be dead before he even knew what hit him." I watched in the distance as they all started fighting each other after they reached the ground.

"Are they all fighting each other?" Hina asked, "What are they doing?"

"Watch," I said, "it's obviously 3-on-1 combat. It looks like Hiei has actually made some _friends_ , and one of them is a human." _Considering his streak of terror maybe it was a good thing he went to human world,_ I thought, _I wonder if he found Yukina._

She asked, "Does that mean he's not going around killing for no reason anymore?"

"I believe so," I said, "but he's letting this human beat him. All of them are. Can you feel that in the air?" She looked at me in confusion. "It's almost like there's a sadness among them. Someone must have died."

After watching the fight slowly come to an end someone else came from the tunnel. A powerful demon energy came with it. _Another demon?_ I thought, _How the hell did he get to human world with that much strength in the first place let alone make it through on the way back?_

A boy on a giant blue bird with Koenma from spirit world appeared out of the tunnel. They all had a brief reunion before he attacked the human with sacred energy. "What kind of demon is that bird?" Hina asked.

"I don't think it's a demon," I replied, "but I didn't know they had such animals in human world. It must be one of them."

The young demon that came from human world didn't stand a chance against the one with sacred energy. He was going to get himself killed if someone didn't step in, then, I heard it. He stopped in his tracks and an enormous amount of demon energy exploded out of him. He was suddenly covered in tatoos and had long back hair.

"What was that?" Hina asked.

"He looks like Raizen," I replied, "I wonder if they're related."

He proceeded to kick the human's ass like no tomorrow, then shot a blast of energy so strong it cut down half the forest. "Whoa," Hina whispered.

"Such a display of power," I replied, "come on, I have to see this. Get on my back." I grabbed her and she held onto my back as I used my speed to get over there.

 _I haven't been this invigorated to fight in years,_ I thought, _who is this demon?_ I raced over just before everyone in the group did and hid among the trees. The human with sacred energy was a goner, but the boy that did it wasn't very happy about that for some reason. He died anyway.

While I wasn't paying attention Hiei passed out. "Load up, Puu, we're going home," the boy said.

I gave Hina a sign to stand back and said, "Wait," as I came out of the woods.

Koenma jumped, and said, "Kunsei? Is that you?"

"You kind of look like Hiei," the human boy with the weird orange hair said.

"What are you doing with the fire demon, Koenma?" I asked. I looked over and saw Hiei was fast asleep on the back of the giant blue bird.

"About that," he said, "he tried to take over the human world not too long ago and spirit world confines him to human world for now."

 _What the hell?_ I thought. _The jagan eye must have made him mad, what was he thinking?_ "So you're taking him back to human world? What does he say about that?"

The human boy said, "He probably doesn't want to go back, to be honest. Maybe we should leave him here."

Koenma said, "It's not like he has a choice. He stole the artifacts of darkness and started hypnotizing humans with his jagan eye. He has to be watched for now."

"How long?" I asked.

"Well he has been helping us out a lot," Koenma said, "I'll review his file if I can ever get back to spirit world without my dad killing me. Why do you ask?"

I looked over at the bird and asked, "What kind of bird is that?"

"Puu?" the boy who looked like Raizen said, "He's my spirit beast. Who are you?" The bird made a "puu" sound after hearing that.

"Nevermind that," I said, looking at the boy, "I'll pull some strings." _If Raizen invited Hiei back to demon world, he could return,_ I thought, _no matter what Koenma ruled in spirit world._

* * *

"I don't believe it," Hina said, "he tried to take over the human world so they confine him there? This place gives me the creeps." We looked up at Raizen's tower. Lightning and thunder struck and rolled through. "Is this going to work?" she asked me nervously as we entered the building.

"Out of the three rulers Raizen is the easiest to talk to, Yomi second but he'll want something in return, and Mukuro is worse than talking to devil himself," I explained, "come on."

At the top of the tower I opened the doors to see him sitting smug on his throne like always. Hina hid behind me in fear as I walked forward. "Kunsei," he said crypically, "don't tell me you're here to fight again."

"Shut up," I demanded, "you look like hell."

"I see you watched my descendant's fight," he replied, "I'm surprised you didn't join him."

"I reserve my fights for those that are worthy," I replied, "that child you call your descendant is going to need a hell a lot more training if you want him to take over your land when you die. He's pathetic."

"Is there a reason you're here?" he asked coldly.

I explained, "I want a demon to come here from human world. They confine him there but I'm sure an invitation from you to Hiei will make spirit world shiver so bad they'll send him here faster than he can blink." _Maybe I should ask about Yukina too,_ I thought.

"Hiei?" he asked, "No I can't do that. Mukuro's already requested his services."

"What?!"

"Don't worry," he continued, "he'll be back in demon world soon."

 _Son of a bitch,_ I thought, _there's no way in hell Mukuro will talk to me. He's far to crazy._ As I turned and left I said, "Have fun starving to death."

* * *

"So this Mukuro demon," Hina said, "you're sure you can't talk to him?"

"I'm not even sure if he's a guy," I replied, "his energy feels more like a woman's. No matter the case, not unlike Hiei, Mukuro's been killing any demon in his path for centuries. One wrong move with him and you're a dead man. They might even become _friends_."

"I don't want Hiei to become friends with someone so murderous," she said.

"It's out of our hands now," I said.


	8. Reunion

Demon world went to hell just as I expected. Raizen died, which made that child Yusuke Urameshi in charge of his land. He went to Yomi and proposed something crazy, that everyone in demon world could get a chance to rule it all. Even more surprising is that both Mukuro and Yomi were swayed by that idea.

Naturally Hiei joined the crowds. Unsurprisingly, Mukuro turned out to be a woman, like I suspected. Hina and I stayed in the audience. We were both nervous about what his reaction would be if he found out she faked her death and abandoned his sister, so she wore a hooded cape with a talasman card on it. I put a talasman card on me too, just in case.

"How and when should we talk to him?" she asked me nervously.

"He's friends with that Yusuke kid," I replied, "once the match between him and Yomi is over so we won't have any distractions."

The fight was much longer than I expected, but Yomi did eventually win. Now it was time to begin. Hiei stayed standing next to Mukuro in the standing only 1st deck. I slowly created a fire ball in my hand, a small one that fit inbetween my thumb and pointer finger. "Can you sense this?" I asked Hina.

"No," she said, trying to hold it, "I can see it though. What is it?"

"It's a tracker," I replied, "It'll make him notice."

"Kunsei, the card," she pointed to the talasman card I was wearing, "if you don't take it off he can't see you with his jagan."

"That's the point," I replied, "if he sees me after I throw this at him, he won't try to find me."

"That won't hurt him will it?" she asked.

"No," I replied, "it'll disapate in his energy. Watch." Ironically, or perhaps more unironically, these fireballs were invented to have children not run too far from home and so they could find their parents if they wandered too far. Here I was, forcing my son to track me.

I threw the fireball at him, and like expected, it disapated in his energy.

* * *

 **[Hiei's POV, 3rd person]**

Hiei watched as the next match was determined when he felt a trace of energy run up his spine. All of his muscles tensed and his hair stood up on end. _What the hell was that?_ he thought. "Did you feel that?" he asked Mukuro.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Nevermind," he replied, looking around.

Then it happened again. He tried using his jagan eye to trace the energy source but he couldn't see anything. "Hiei," Mukuro said.

"I'll be back later," he replied and walked away.

* * *

 **[Kunsei's POV, 1st person]**

"Perfect," I said, "come on, now that I have a lock on his energy I can throw them from anywhere." I pulled her away to the eating area. She sat off to the side at a different table while I waited for Hiei to show up.

I created another fireball and it flew to him. He finally came in the entrance of the cafeteria. I took off the talasman card and threw another fire ball at him. Our eyes met. He looked surprised as he walked toward me. I gestured to the chair across from me.

As he sat down he asked, "Who are you?"

"Kunsei," I answered, "many years ago now, I met a woman named Hina." His eyes widened in shock. "She was curious about many things, including men. I tried to stop her from leaving me, I knew it would be a bad idea but she left me for the ice world anyway."

"A tragic story for us both," he said smugly, "how did you find me?"

"It wasn't easy," I replied, "you killed almost everyone in your path. Then you lost your mother's necklace which made it even harder for me to find you. I finally went to ice world and met Rui." His eyes narrowed at that name. _Yeah if I was him I'd hate her too,_ I thought. "Why didn't you kill her?"

He replied, "She's already dead just like all of those other women. Ice runs through their veins, not blood."

"I have another bombshell for you, Hiei," I continued, "your mother didn't kill herself."

"What?" he asked.

Hina stood up and took off the cape. She revealed herself and he stared at her in shock. She fell to her knees and hugged him tight.

* * *

 **[Hina POV]**

As soon as Hiei entered the doorway I could barely breathe. Their conversation only lasted a minute before Kunsei mentioned that I faked my death. I stood up and revealed myself and easily towered over him. He stared at me in complete shock. For years I had waited for this moment. Ever since I was sure he was alive.

I fell to my knees and hugged him. His inner fire was exactly the same as it was all of those years ago when I felt him in my arms. He didn't hug me back, but sat completely frozen. My eyes were overwhelmed as I let my tears fall to the ground.

I whispered to him, "I was sure Rui killed you, and I couldn't live in that icy hell any longer so I pretended to kill myself and left. I'm sorry, Hiei."

"What for?" he asked.

I let go of him and sat in the chair beside them, "For not fighting harder, and for abandoning Yukina. I should have taken her with me. Where is she anyway? We know both of you went to human world. You must have found her."

"I did," he replied, "she likes humans so I don't see her coming back here anytime soon." A worried expression came across his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Hiei said, "I never told her who I was."

Kunsei asked, "She doesn't know you're her brother? Why didn't you say anything?"

"She doesn't deserve a brother like me," he explained, "even you said it, I've killed everyone that came across my path. Do you think she'd like to know that about her brother?"

* * *

 **[Kunsei POV]**

 _Shame?_ I thought, _No, he's lying to himself. He's not ashamed of his past. He's still just as arrogant about it than ever._ "Don't be ridiculous," I said to Hiei, "shame isn't the reason you haven't said it. It's fear, you're riddled with it."

He glared at me. "Hn," he said, "you think you know me so well?"

"Well let's go over what we do know," I replied, "you were rejected by your own race _at birth_. That's harsh. I still can't believe you didn't kill them for that. Then you didn't know me, but you were sure Hina here was dead. She's your only family left-so you thought. If she rejected you-your only flesh and blood left alive-it would be devastating. Tell me I'm wrong."

"What is your point?" he demanded.

I said, "Tell her the truth, Hiei."

"She's happy enough," he replied, looking down at his stone necklace.

Hina said, "I want to see her no matter what she knows. Kunsei?"

"I can't go to human world," I explained, "I told you this before, remember? The kekai barrier stops me even if we could find a portal large enough for me to fit through."

She replied, "I might just go without you then."

Hiei asked, "Did you know spirit world lackies put a letter on each demon to determine their strength? If you're B class or less you can fit through."

"And what does that mean?" I asked, "Nevermind that. Maybe if I go to spirit world they can put something together."


	9. Family

Some nobody demon named Enki won the right to rule us all. The real kicker was that he wanted to open the border between human and demon world. Perhaps I wouldn't have to go spirit world after all. The barrier went down almost immediately and portals of all sizes were much more frequent.

I stopped Hiei before he left the arena. "Hina and I are going to human world to find Yukina," I said, "join us."

"Hn," he said.

I explained, "She'll learn the truth about you as soon as she sees me. She'll put two and two together that you're brother and sister if she hasn't already. You know she left the ice world just to look for you."

"Why do you need me to go with you?" he asked.

I replied, "I don't _need_ you to, I want you to. I've spent years of my life trying to find you, Hiei. Your mother has shed so many tears for you, thinking you were dead. The real question is, why not come with us?"

Hiei stared at him. _He can't think of a comback for that,_ I thought, _perfect._ He dug into his pocket and said, "You can give this back to her for me." He showed me a tear stone necklace.

I glanced at the necklace around his neck and realized what that meant. "Yukina gave it to you?" I asked, "And you think she doesn't know you're her brother?"

"She asked me to use it to find her brother," he replied.

"She knows you're him," I replied, "I think she's just waiting for you to open up to her. Come with us and give it to her yourself."

He asked, "Why should I go with you?"

"That's not the question you want to ask," I explained, "there are lots of reasons. To spend time with family. To see your friends in human world again. To see Yukina's face when we tell her Hina's alive. The real question is, why not come with us?" After glaring at me for a moment Hiei finally agreed to join us.

* * *

"So she lives in that temple?" Hina asked, "It's beautiful out here."

We walked through the woods together towards a temple. A young ice maiden stepped out toward the yard. She looked just like Hina. "There," Hiei said, "it's her."

"Hold on," I said, starting up another fire ball.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Throwing this tracking fireball at Yukina," I replied.

Hina asked, "Are you sure that won't hurt her?"

I threw it at her. "Did you feel anything?" I asked. She shook her head. "If this doesn't work that's all it'll do." I made another one and threw it at Yukina.

"What was that?" she asked, looking around.

"Now, Hiei," I said. No sooner did he jump up and appear in front of her.

* * *

 **[Hiei's POV, 3rd person]**

Hiei jumped into the air and landed in front of his sister. "Oh, Hiei, hi," Yukina said, "did you just send that energy signal?" She looked around nervously.

"Not exactly," he replied, "here," he lifted up her necklace, "you should have it back. I don't need it, I have my own." He took the chain out from under his shirt and showed her.

"Then-" she said, "it's you. You're my brother, Hiei."

"There's something else," he explained, "our mother, Hina, she's not really dead."

"What are you saying?" she asked as horror moved across her face.

Hina walked out of the woods with Kunsei right behind her. "Yukina!" she said sadly, "I'm so sorry. When I left the ice world when you were just a little girl I should have taken you with me." She hugged her daughter.

"Mom?" Yukina asked nervously. She hugged her back. "I thought you died years ago." She looked at Kunsei and saw that he looked just like Hiei. "You're-"

"It's a long story," he replied, "but yes. We're a family-finally. After all of these years."

* * *

"You mean you and shorty are related?" Kuwabara asked, "I don't believe it!" He put some food down on the table in Genkai's temple and looked at the family of four. Hiei sat off to the side of everyone else (Kurama, Shizuru, Botan, Keiko, and Genkai).

Kunsei replied, "He won't be short forever, he's still young-at least in demon standards."

Kuwabara looked at Hina and asked, "When Yukina's full grown will she look like you?!"

"Yes," she replied, "but that won't be until she's 100. How long do humans live?"

Shizuru explained, "About that long. Sorry bro, I guess you're out of luck with Yukina. Demons sure do live for a long time, right Kurama?"

"Yes," Kurama said.

"I still can't believe you lived," Kunsei said, "I was told years ago you died finally. Not up to any tricks again are you?" He looked at Kurama suspicously.

Kurama explained, "Not anymore. I actually like being human now."

Kuwabara asked, "It takes 100 years for an ice maiden for be full grown?"

"Yes," Hina explained, "once every 100 years we're supposed to be give birth to a daughter but when we're with men that doesn't always happen." She glanced at Kunsei and smiled.

Kuwabara looked over at Hiei sitting off to the side from everyone else, looking outside, and asked, "Once every 100 years, huh, does that mean that's true for Hiei too?"

Kunsei asked, "Are all humans as dense as you?" Hiei laughed at that.

"Don't listen to him," Shizuru replied, "he's just an idiot. Kazuma men don't ovulate."

"Oh, right, I knew that!" Kuwabara shouted, "Wait if Hiei and Yukina are related that means if we every get together we'll be inlaws!" He looked over at Hiei who didn't react.

Yukina asked, "Kazuma, what's wrong with Hiei being an in-law?"

Hiei asked, "Can all of you talk about anything else?"

Keiko asked, "Did Yusuke tell any of you if he was coming back soon?" Everyone in the room fell silent.

"He mentioned more training when I last spoke to him," Kurama said, "he didn't mention a time limit on that."

"With that child's immaturity and arrogance," Kunsei explained, "it'll take hundreds of years for him to become anyone remarkable let alone level headed."

Hina asked, "What are you talking about now?"

"I was foolish and young once," he explained, "when I was about Hiei's age I tried to fight Raizen. I'm lucky he let me live through that. To be honest, I should have died." He thought back to how injured he was, even in Raizen's weakened starvation state, he was easily defeated by him back then. It took months for him to heal and after that, he realized he needed to get much stronger if he were going to go around challenging others to a fight.

Keiko said sadly, "I don't have hundreds of years to wait."

"Easy now, Keiko," Botan said, "we don't know how long he'll be in demon world. He might come back soon, right?"

"Perhaps," Kurama replied.

* * *

Once the party was over, the family stayed at the house. Yukina and Hina helped clean everything up for Genkai so she didn't have to. "I'm surprised," Kunsei said to Hiei, "that you have so many friends."

"Friends?" he asked.

"What else would you call these people who you refuse to kill?" he asked, "Companions? Allies? With you having such a murderous past I'm surprised you even have that capability."

Hiei demanded, "Do you have a point?"

"Must be lonely," Kunsei said softly, "living on the edge of pushing everyone away because of your fear of rejection and also longing to belong to something. I watched you fight Mukuro. You can be part of something now, Hiei."

Hiei asked, "What will happen if I refuse?"

"I won't disappear," he replied, "I am your father after all. It's all probably shocking to you since you thought your mother was dead. I can teach you things you know."

"Like what?" he asked harshly.

"Expending so much energy in battle that you pass out afterward isn't exactly a life saving move," Kunsei explained, "I can show you how to control your fire better so that doesn't happen."

Hiei replied, "I didn't pass out when I fought Mukuro."

"That human with sacred energy almost killed you," Kunsei said, "if you stay with me I can help you get stronger than any human ever."

Hiei looked over at his mother and sister inside the temple. "What about Yukina?" he asked, "She likes it here in human world. I doubt she'll want to return."

"She does oddly like humans," Kunsei replied, "especially that stupid one. We'll probably traverse the worlds on a regular occasion now since the barrier is down. Besides, how else would you meet up with your friends?"

"Stop using that word," Hiei said, "it irritates me."

He said, "Another thing, I'll help you stop lying to yourself too. As someone who used to do that I can tell you confidently that it'll only end in your death." Hiei glared at him.

* * *

"What do you say, Yukina?" Hina asked, "I know I left you in the past but I won't do it again! I should have taken you with me back then."

Yukina said, "I'm not mad at you. I'm wondering if I would have done the same thing if I was in that situation."

"Well?" Hina asked, "Since you have human friends it's not like you'll never see them again. We'll come back here often, promise."

Yukina looked over at Genkai and asked, "Will you be okay here all alone?"

"Of course," she replied, "with you gone I can finally get some peace and quiet since Kuwabara won't be coming here all the time looking for you."

"I accept," Yukina said, smiling, "it'll be nice to have a family, after all this time." She looked over at Hiei and Kunsei standing outside, talking.

"Yes," Hina said, "finally, a family."

The End


End file.
